


I'm Your Man

by DiamondsxStags



Category: Actor RPF
Genre: Am I basically including the whole Hannibal cast? Yes I am, F/F, F/M, Includes discussions about various things while characters are drunk, Includes drug addiction, Includes references to and discussions of Catholocisim, M/M, Multi, Original character is a queer autistic WOC, This is based off a playlist from 8tracks, This is gonna be a slow burn so sorry guys, This work includes POC talking shit about white people
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-27
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-02-10 02:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2007252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondsxStags/pseuds/DiamondsxStags
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following his divorce from his wife, Mads Mikkelsen moves into an apartment on the Upper West Side of New York City. Living across from the hall from him is Audrey Johnson who at first is away traveling. Six months later, she comes back and throws Mads's life through one hell of a loop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Prolouge**

 

Mads hadn't lived in an apartment since his twenties and he was a college student back in Denmark. Being back in one made him feel nostalgic, like a young man who was about to try and strike it out on his own for the first time and see where life would lead him. But the realization that he was once again on his own after divorcing the woman he thought he would be spending the rest of his life with only made him want to cry.

 "Everything seems to be in order Mr Mikkelsen." The landlord, Mr Wilson, was a kindly man in his 60's who spoke gently and didn't pry when Mads mentioned he was moving into the apartment following his divorce. He appreciated that. "Do you have any more questions?"

 Mads was took one last look around the apartment, just to be sure. The apartment was spacious and modern, with two bedrooms for when his daughter Kacey would stay over, a decent sized kitchen and bathroom that had a washing machine and a dryer in a closet. There was even a nice balcony that lead from the main room and offered an amazing view. It was a lot better than Mads's first apartment, which while it isn't saying much, is still a good thing. The apartment complex itself was situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and boasted very well-off and well-known residents. Well, they were well-known in artistic and intellectual circles, which were circles Mads had never found himself in so they were all complete strangers to him. Mads was about to tell Mr Wilson was fine, but something caught his eye. His front door was open and saw another door across the hall that had a sign that read  _A.J.'s gone travelin'_. Mads's curiosity got the better of him. "Who's A.J.?" He asked.

 "Oh, that's Audrey." Mr Wilson said fondly. "She'll be your neighbor when she gets back."

 Audrey. That was a nice name. "Where is she now?"

 "Sri Lanka. So, anything else?"

 Mads really couldn't think of anything else, so he shook his head. "No, everything's fine." He managed to smile. "Thank you Mr Wilson."

 Mr Wilson smiled back, his eyes crinkling a little at the corners. "Your welcome Mr Mikkelsen. Remember, if you need anything, just ask."

 "I will." Mads assured him. They said their goodbyes and Mr Wilson left.

 Mads continued to stare at the door and the sign.  _A.J.'s gone travelin'._ It seemed like an odd sign to put up, but maybe that was the kind of person Audrey was. Sri Lanka...Mads had never been to Sri Lanka, he'd never even been to Asia. All he had known growing up was Denmark and Sweden with the occasional trips his family made. He never thought he would leave Denmark, he just assumed he would get married, raise a family, and die there, like so many before him. Then, when he was working at one of Denmark's biggest banks, he met Caroline.

 She was in Copenhagen on vacation with friends and she had been lumped with the job of exchanging the rest of their American dollars into Danish krone and Mads happened to be one to help her. What had started as a simple errand turned into a pleasant conversation which turned into a lunch invitation which turned into breathless, dizzying, uncontrollable love. The night before Caroline had to return to Manhattan, she had cried into Mads's arms and clung onto him for dear life. When she had fallen asleep on his couch, Mads made a few arrangements. Two weeks after Caroline arrived back in Manhattan, she returned to her apartment to find Mads with a bouquet of flowers and a ring. She had said yes before he even opened his mouth. She had been 23, and he had been 35. Within a year they had Kacey. They thought they'd be in love forever, and they were right. Until the day they weren't.

 It was hard to say what exactly had been the turning point in their marriage that had caused it to end. Perhaps it was the fact that Mads was working at the bank more and more, maybe Caroline's habit of holding everything in and acting passive-aggressively had done it. Whatever the cause, it couldn't be treated, no matter how many marriage counselling appointments they went to and how much they tried to work it out, whatever 'it' was, they simply had to accept that what they thought would last forever simply couldn't. Caroline was now 36, Mads past middle-aged at 48. Kacey was 13 and finding it just as hard as her parents to accept that they simply wouldn't be a single unit anymore.

 Mads had been the one to suggest that he moved out. Caroline said that he didn't have to, but Mads insisted. He needed space to collect himself and work things out. So he went out apartment hunting until he found the one he was standing in now. The divorce was in the final processing stage and by all accounts it was perhaps the most amicable divorce in Manhattan's history. Mads would of course pay child support, and Kacey would stay with him every second week. That was the main reason why Mads had decided to stay in Manhattan, that and because of work and because Mads had grown to love the city. Copenhagen would always had a special place in his heart, but Manhattan had managed to carve a place for itself their as well.

 For a few moments, Mads continued to reflect on his past, until the sound of a car backfiring caused him to jump. When he realized how long he had been standing there, staring at the door to an empty apartment and the sign that hung there, he felt foolish. He closed the door and went to the kitchen to get a beer out of the fridge.  _'Maybe I'll introduce myself to Audrey when she gets back.'_ Mads thought absentmindedly as he unscrewed the cap.  _'It'll be nice to have a friend here.'_  


	2. Chapter One: Six Months Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for smoking in this chapter

_And if you want a doctor_   
_I'll examine every inch of you_   
_If you want a driver_   
_Climb inside_   
_Or if you want to take me for a ride_   
_You know you can_   
_I'm your man_

-I'm _Your Man_ by Leonard Cohen

 

**Chapter One**

_**Six months later** _

 

 Mads loved watching the sun rise over the Manhattan skyline. He walked out onto his balcony, lit cigarette in hand and took a drag as he watched the city slowly start to glow and bask in orange light. Mads smiled and exhaled, the smoke curling around his face.  _'Maybe I should listen to Kacey and give up smoking.'_ He thought absentmindedly. He was pondering this when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw a sight that made his jaw drop open. Standing just over a meter away from him on her own balcony is probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

 She didn't seem to notice Mads and was just holding onto the wrought iron railing of her balcony as the gentle wind blew her wavy dark brown hair behind her and made her light pink slip stick close to her curved body, her robe barely fluttered as it hung heavily off her shoulders. The sunlight made her light brown skin glow like she was some sort of ethereal being who was only visiting Earth for a little bit before returning to her home filled with beautiful, glowing people. For a few moments, Mads just starred at this impossibly real beauty, his cigarette still burning and the ash slowly falling at his feet. He forgot about the Manhattan skyline, he forgot he was only wearing his red and white checked boxers and white undershirt, he forgot about everything but her. For a little while, he watched her watching the sunrise, both of them perfectly still. Then, with no warning, she turned her head and looked right at Mads. Mads jumped slightly, a little embarrassed. He tried to think of an excuse, but he suddenly forgot every word he ever knew and was left standing there, silently panicking, before he noticed that the woman didn't seem to be looking at him, really. If anything, she was looking  _past_ him, as if he wasn't there. Mads wondered if this was a good time to leave when the woman smiled and focused on him.

 "Hello." She said, in a soft and feminine voice that had a hint of an accent he did not recognize.

 "Hello." Mads replied, trying to sound normal. He smiled back and stood up straight, hoping he looked ok despite his attire.

 "You must be the new neighbor Harry told me about." The woman said, seemingly oblivious to her and Mads's state of dress. "Mr Mikkelsen?"

 "Yes that's me." Was this the mysterious Audrey then? "Mads Mikkelsen."

 "Mads Mikkelsen." She echoed back. Mads liked the way she said his name. "Like a church mass."

 "Yeah, that's right." Feeling more confident, Mads took a drag of his cigarette, which was already half finished. It suddenly occurred to him that she may be Christian and disapproved of smoking, so he quickly stubbed it out on the railing. "Are you Audrey?"

 "Uh huh." Her smile got a little wider, but Mads noticed that it seemed to get a little warier too. Like how Caroline used to smile after Mads got home late from work. "Audrey Johnson, I've been in Sri Lanka for a while. How long have you been here?"

 "Six months." It was almost painful for Mads to admit that he had been away from his family for that long.

 "So I take it you like it so far?"

 Mads smiled and nodded. He was enjoying his conversation with her, even if the setting for it was rather odd. "Yeah, it's nice. How long have you lived here?"

 "Four years." She said, rather proudly. "Or close enough to it anyway. You know, I don't think I've ever heard of a Mads Mikkelsen among my friends."

 "I work in a bank." Mads told her. He had learned in his time living at the complex that most of the other residents were actors or writers or artists and the like who made up the 'cultural elite' of Manhattan, of which Mads definitely did not belong to.

 "Ah, that'll be why." Audrey said. "I don't know a lot of bankers, mostly artistic types." She made a face and rolled her eyes. "Most of them are pretentious asses who got all their opinions from the people they follow around to be honest." She giggled and Mads found the sound very pleasant. "But don't tell anyone I said that, I'm in enough trouble for being away for so long." She looked backed inside her apartment, at what Mads's guessed was a clock as a look of urgency suddenly came over her. "Aw frick!" She said loudly. "I'm gonna be late!" She turned back to Mads. "It was nice meeting you Mr Mikkelsen, see you around!" She vanished back inside, the doors closing behind her, before Mads could reply.

 Her sudden departure left Mads feeling stunned, just like her sudden appearance. Mads checked his own clock inside his apartment, and saw that he was going to be late too if he didn't hurry. He went back inside, closed the doors and went to have a shower where his head swam with questions.

  _'Is she Christian? She did mention a church mass so I guess she is.'_

_'How big is she with those 'artistic types'? What does she do?'_

_'What did she do in Sri Lanka and why would she be in trouble for going? Or was she joking when she said that?'_

And, most importantly,

 _'Who above the age of twenty says 'frick' these days?'_ (Because she was surly over twenty, had to be, yet not quite reaching her thirties.)

 By the time he had showered and was dressed and drinking his coffee, he had manged to get focused on his day rather than think about Audrey (the thing about her saying 'frick' still interested him though). He had just finished his toast and was about to have a second cup of coffee when his doorbell rang.  _'Did I forget about someone coming over?'_ He doubted it but he went to answer the door. Standing in the hallway, surprisingly, was Audrey.

 "Oh good, you're still here." She said. She was wearing a simple light blue dress (which Mads noticed matched her eyes. He hadn't seen what colour her eyes were earlier.), black tights, and pumps and a blazer in the same shade as her dress. "I was hoping to catch you before you left for work. Or are you about to leave?"

 "No I have time." Mads told her. "What is it?"

 "Well I figured that since you live across from me, you ought to know that I tend to have friends over a lot." She said.

 Mads was a little confused. "That isn't a big deal, lots of people have friends over."

 "Yeah but do their friends arrive at five in the afternoon stone cold sober and only leave at three in the morning completely tipsy?" She raised an eyebrow.

 "I don't think so." He had to smile. "Is that what happens with your friends?"

 "Oh yeah, and sometimes we'll have a little impromptu party and get drunk and cause some noise, which can be a problem if you have little'uns. Do you have any little'uns?"

 Frick and little'uns? What time period is she from? "No, I have a thirteen year old daughter, Kacey, she comes over every second week, but I don't think she'd like to be called a 'little'un'."

 "Kacey." She echoed. Then, after a moment, she said "Yeah, thirteen year olds don't like to be called little'uns at all. In that case, whenever you have Kacey I'll try not to get too drunk with my friends. I'm a quiet drunk on my own, but with company I can get a little loud."

 "That's very kind of you." Mads said sincerely. "But I'm sure we'll be fine."

 Audrey shook her head. "You don't know my friends Mr Mikkelsen." She insisted. "I've considered getting muzzles in the past but decided against it. God only knows why." She checked her watch, plain silver, and clicked her tongue. "I need to go, Raul has been wanting to see me for a while. Just wanted to give you a warning Mr Mikkelsen."

 "Mads." He said. "Please call me Mads, you're my neighbor, not my secretary." He joked.

 "Mads." She said his name slowly, like she was savoring it. "Mads. Like a church mass." For a split second, she looked like she was a thousand miles away, like she was actually in a church, reciting a hymn during mass. And the hymn was his name. Then, just as quick as the look came over her face, it was gone. "Well, you have a nice day Mads." She smiled, turned on her heel, and left Mads standing at the door and staring into thin air.

  _'Fuck Mads get a hold of yourself!'_ He closed the door and quickly finished his coffee, looking around his apartment to make sure he had everything. As a distraction, it wasn't the best. 'Half assed' was probably the best way to put it, but he just couldn't get the sound of Audrey's voice saying his name out of his head.

  _"Mads."_

_"Like a church mass."_

_"Mads."_

_'Stop it right now Mads!'_ He told himself firmly.  _'She's meeting with a guy called Raul. Her boyfriend no doubt, so get all of this nonsense out of your head.'_

 Unfortunately, that was far easier said than done.

**Author's Note:**

> The playlist that inspired this fic can be found here: http://8tracks.com/uzukii/bless-the-world-for-giving-us-dilfs


End file.
